


Transfixed

by musicaldork



Category: Herbert West - Reanimator - H. P. Lovecraft, Re-Animator (Movies)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Feelings, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Protectiveness, Reader-Insert, Science, Science Experiments, i love one (1) emotionally constipated bastard man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24645922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicaldork/pseuds/musicaldork
Summary: Herbert West is a man incredibly distanced from his emotions.Unfortunately, it seems that a surefire way for him to fall in love is to see somebody standing protectively over him - covered in blood and viscera - shovel in hand.Request: Tooth-rotting fluff scenario with a smol s/o who is excitable and interested in anything science related and is very eager to protect Herb man from his rogue experiments
Relationships: Herbert West/Reader
Kudos: 20





	Transfixed

Utterly transfixed.

There was no other word for how you felt about the elusive inner workings of one Herbert West.

The secrets held inside a small glass bottle of sheer green luminescence, turned about in his palms.

It was ungodly. It was fascinating.

How you’d gotten there, was strange.

It’d been an odd arrangement, to be sure, but it worked out for you - Dan Cain renting out the room in his house once it became apparent that Herbert hardly ever budged from the makeshift lab of his basement.

Dan and Herbert clearly tried to keep their experiments secretive, though they were nowhere near as imperceptible as they might’ve though.

And of course, the proverbial cat was out of the bag the moment you’d heard the fearsome smashing of beakers and vials down from the recesses of the basement - following a daemoniac wail that couldn’t have come from anything still housing a shred of genuine humanity.

But there it stood indeed - a dead man brought back to indisputable life.

There was no time to admire the mechanics of it, not when all you could see was him leering over Herbert with the immediate intent to kill.

A wave of nigh-debilitating fury came over you, something you’d never felt before, that wrenched at your insides with potent immediacy without further thought.

And running on blessed instinct, you savagely disabled the threat with the nearest blunt object you could reach - a stained shovel clutched so hard in your grip that your hands shook mercilessly.

Herbert had never seen anything like it.

With wide, awed eyes fixated on nothing but you, he felt his heart pound against his chest, with a sickening dose of adrenaline, survival instinct and something new he dared not identify.

For all your short stature and disarmingly bubbly nature, you had shocked him with the ferocity of your protectiveness. For him.

A far cry from the excitable person he’d known before, somehow the burning intensity of your resolve cast a new light over his perspective on you.

He swallowed against a lump of long-hidden emotion caught in his throat.

You were smart, as interested in science as he was - and far more hardy than he’d given you credit for.

Maybe… alone didn’t have to be a state of permanence for him.

A surprising partnership formed from there.

\---

Months ticked onwards, and you’d only grown closer to the reticent ‘re-animator’.

Herbert mumbled his hypotheses to you, a feverish sweat worked up over his brow as he pondered over the results of his findings.

The things that clicked, and those that did not - you could practically see the cogs turning in his brain.

Everything about science excited you - delighted in making the unknowable… knowable.

You could easily say the same for the man himself.

Leaning forward to eagerly inspect the luminescent green of his latest batch of reagent, you couldn’t stop your eyes from flickering up to his face. Soft lips and delicate features, framed with large, steel-framed spectacles… Handsome in a way.

You nodded sagely at his disjointed ranting, although you’d probably lost him somewhere minutes prior, at the molecular structure of such-and-such…

\---

Whether or not you understood him fully, Herbert was grateful for a chance to organise his thoughts aloud, though he tried not to look at you too often - for fear of falling apart.

The intensity of your gaze made him flush with unbidden embarrassment, breaking away from his notes to tug nervously at the starched collar of his dress shirt.

Herbert was never one for distractions, but you provided one of the most troubling variety: His growing feelings for you; the ones that gnawed at the sudden derailing of his one-track mind.

If he knew any better, he’d send you away - retreat back into his shell and back into the cold comforts of isolation...

But still. He knew he never would. He was happy to have you at his side.

And although he’d never admit his gratitude outright, somehow, you knew.

Behind a hidden smile, you simply nodded at his words, leaning in closer to him.

He didn’t say a word to acknowledge it, but he did not move away, and that was answer enough.

**Author's Note:**

> never written anything like this before. oh boy im nervous i hope its ok!
> 
> also hey check out my tumblr dorkfanfic for more herb content + you can send requests there! bye


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